Durfee Ruled Out of USC Game, Will Miss Fourth Outing

The edge rusher suffers from double turf toe, which has made his season nearly a total wash.

Edge rusher Zach Durfee will miss the UW-USC football game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Dealing with two flat tires much of the season, University of Washington edge rusher Zach Durfee will miss Saturday's USC game, once more robbing the Huskies of one of their top defensive playmakers, coach Jedd Fisch said.

The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Durfee really has been healthy for just the first two games of the season, both of which he started and excelled, before suffering turf toe on each foot, which involves sprained ligaments and restricts the ability to run.

Durfee last played nearly a month ago in a limited role in the Huskies' 27-17 victory over Michigan at home. The USC game will be the fourth game he sits out completely.

Last weekend, Durfee traveled with the Huskies to Indiana, dressed for the game and got taped up, but couldn't get through an individual workout 90 minutes before kickoff and was a late scratch.

After playing the 2022 season for the University of Sioux Falls, a Division II school, Durfee transferred to the UW to join the Huskies who were coached by Kalen DeBoer, who had played and coached at Sioux Falls, winning a combined four national championships.

However, Durfee has had nothing but bad luck since joining the Huskies, first getting ruled ineligible by the NCAA for 2023 as a double transfer, ousted by a rule that no longer exists. In the previous spring football, he fractured an elbow, had surgery and missed nearly half of the 15 practices.

With his ongoing double turf toe situation, Durfee started against Weber State and Eastern Michigan, and played in restricted roles against Washington State, Rutgers and Michigan. He has 15 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a pass break-up.

Fisch also said there was no change in the health status for either senior tight end Quentin Moore, who has missed all except two quarters of the season after suffering a knee injury, or sophomore wide receiver Kevin Green Jr., who appeared to suffer a leg injury in a fall scrimmage in August and hasn't played at all this season.

Durfee, Moore and Green each could be in line to receive medical redshirts and pick up an extra year of eligibility, Fisch said previously.

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